Improvement in hatchways



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. M. VAN OSDEL. Hat'chway.

: No. 207,571. Patented Au 27 1s E V manuuzammH N. PETERS,PHOTLLLITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, 0 Q

2 Sheets-Sheet 2-.

J. M. VAN OSDEL. Hatchway.

No. 207,571. Patented Aug. 27,18Z 8.

"llllllll UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

JOHN M. VAN OSDEL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN HATCHWAYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 207,571, dated August27, 1878; application filed July 27', 1b7S.

CASE A.

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that I, JOHN M. VAN OsDEL, of Chicago, in the county. ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Self-Closing Hatchways for Elevators; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the .same, reference being had to theaccompanyin g drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

By my improvements in self-closing hatchways for elevators the doors areopened and closed with the least possible force and noise by a novelconstruction and combination of devices for effecting these movementsthrough the intervention of a bearing-way of novel construction, carriedby the elevator-car, for operating levers adapted thereto.

The doors are constructed of sections of two leaves each, and these arehinged to the opposite sides of the hatchway and to each other in amanner to allow the sections of two leaves to close by their gravity. Aleading roll or runner is combinedwith the flap-leaf. of each section insuch amanner as to start and separate or open them from the outer leavesand lead them out in closing, and thus prevent their tendency to closewhen in folded position. After serving this important function, theseleading-rolls pass idly out of the way beneath the closed doors at theirjunction. Both sections of the doors stand up in folded position inrecesses in the guide-posts and on opposite sides of the hatchway. Bothsections of the door are connected for simultaneous folding andunfolding by means of primary levers, having a simultaneous movementtoward and from each other, above and below the doors, the same beingconnected with secondary levers, and operated with a long free sweep bymeans of a bearing-way upon the elevator-car, consisting of a verticalplane united to horizontal planes at the top and bottom of theelevator-car by curves forming a quarter of an ellipse. The horizontaltop and bottom planes of this bearing -way operate the primary lovers toopen and to close the doors in the ascending and descending movements ofthe elevator. The vertical plane is to retain the doors in their openpositions and free from the elevator while it is passing through thehatchway, while the curves unit-, in g these planes serve to effect theopening of the doors by a gradual variable movement to prevent slamming,slowing the movement of the doors when nearly open and during thepassing of the primary lever from the horizontal onto the verticalplane. These curves are adapted to secure a slow movement in commencingto close the doors, and they serve to keep the primary lever in closecontact with the bearing-way in changing from the vertical to thehorizontal plane, upon which it travels through an arc of ninetydegrees, or thereahout, to close or open the doors, so that, while thesehorizontal planes serve to open and close the doors, they also effecttheir opening and closing in a manner to avoid slainming. One of theprimary levers holds the doors open and free of the elevator until theother comes into operation, and in this way both primary levers bearupon the same plane, whether the elevator be moving upward or downward.

The primary levers are connected in such a manner as to balance eachother, and thereby relieve the elevator from lifting the weight ofeither. They are so arranged that thehorizontal planes of the bearingwayact to force their bearing ends upward and downward simultaneously inopposite directions, according to the direction of the movement of theelevator, any required distance to give time for the doors to openquietly and without sudden strain upon the moving parts. A singleadjustable counterpoise serves to balance all the doors by positiveconnections therewith and with the primary levers.

The speed of the opening and closing movements of the doors is regulatedand controlled to any given movement of the elevator by the adaptationof longer or shorter primarylevers. For a slow-moving elevator theselevers are of less length than that required for a fast-moving elevator5 but in either case their bearing ends move through an arc of ninetydegrees," or thereabout, upon the horizontal planes to open and closethe doors.

A safety-connection with the upper primary lever at a point intermediatewith its doorconnections serves to prevent the elevator-car from fallingthrough the hatehway in case of accidental breaking of the cable or ofthe motor. In such event the safety-connection will be severed by theviolent descent and concussion of the elevator upon the acting end ofthe upper primary lever, and thus freeing it from operating-connectionthe doors will remain closed and arrest the elevator-ear. This safety- 7connection, however, cannot be broken by the working of the elevator, asin such working it is not subjected to any undue strain.

The adjustments of the parts to effect the proper working of the doorsand the equal bearing of the primary levers upon the elevatorbearing-way are elfected by screw-coupling lock-nut connections of theseveral parts.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents a view, in perspective,of so much of an elevator and its hatchway-shaft as embraces andillustrates the application of my invention, the doors being shown asclosed and the elevator in the position it occupies just before openingthe doors in its ascent, or in position as just having closed the doorsin its descent, the dotted lines above the doors showing thecorresponding position of the elevator after closing the doors in itsascent, or in the position it occupies to commence opening the doors inits descent; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same, showing the doorsfolded open, the elevator in the position as passing through thehatchway, and both primary levers in contact with the vertical plane ofthe bearing-way of said elevator to hold said doors clear thereof; Fig.3, an enlarged section of one of the doors, of two leaves, folded open,and showing its leading roll or runner in position to start, separate,and lead out the flap-leaf, as shown by dotted lines. Fig. 4 shows apart of the two flap-leaves as closed and their leading-rollsturned'down beneath them, out of the way, in their receiving-pockets;Fig. 5, a detail top view, showing a part of the outside door-leaf asclosed, and the recess in the frame-work to receive the arm It, whichconnects said doorleaf with its lifting secondary lever; Fig. 6, adetail elevation of the primary levers and their connections with eachother, and with the counterpoise device and secondary levers; Fig. 7, adetail of one of the bearing-brackets enlarged; Fig. 8, a detail of theleading-roll of the flap-leafand of the supporting-rolls thereofenlarged; Fig. 9, a detail, enlarged, of a part of the bearing-way ofthe elevator-car, showing the point of impact of the horizontal plane ofsaid way with the roll end of the lower primary lever to open the doors,the form of the curve to give a variable movement in opening, and, bydotted lines, the bearing of said lever upon the vertical plane of saidbearing-way to hold said doors open; Fig. 10, a detail of thescrew-coupling lock-nut connection for the several parts, for makingtheir proper adjustments to determine the opening and closing of thedoors and the bearing of the primary levers; Fig. 11, a detailillustrating the different lengths of primary levers for slow and fastmoving elevators, and Fig. 12 a detail of the leading-roll.

My improvements are applicable alike to what is known as freight andpassenger elevators, and may be applied to either.- side or corner-postelevators.

The elevator A may be of the usual construction, and adapted to movebetween guide ways B (one of which only is shown) extending from the topto the bottom of the shaft or passage-way, and operated by any suitablemotor. The doors are in two sections, folding in two leaves each-thatis, of four leaves adapted to close and rest in rabb'etsin the sameplane with the floor, and form a part thereof. The outer leaf, 0, ishinged on its outer side at a to the frame-work, as in Fig. 3, and theflap-leaf O is hinged on its inner side at b to the leaf 0, so that whenfolded it will hang down by the inner side of the outer leaf, with theweight of both constantly tending inward, so that the door resting uponthe floor-hinges, if unrestrained, would fall inward, as shown in Fig.3.

The fixed guideways B are recessed at D D, as shown in Fig. 2, toreceive the doors when folded open, and by reason of their foldedpositions this cut-away part of the guideways is comparatively short, sothat the elevatorguides A A will easily span them without affecting itssteadiness of movement. The doors being in two leaves, each require lessforce to raise them; but means must be provided to insure their properclosing and prevent the flap-leaf from falling down beneath the outerleaf, I

The device which I have contrived for this purpose consists of aleading-roll, E, being on the rabbet-way E and carried by an arm, 0,pivoted to one corner or angle of each flapleaf 0, as shown in Figs. 3,8, and 12, so as to bear against a shoulder, 0, thereof, Fig. 3, to holdthe arm 0 in posit-ion to start, open, and lead out the flap-leaf G toinsure its separation from the outer door-leaf. Both leaves will then besupported in closing by small rolls 0?, Figs. 8 and 12, at the lowercorners or angles of the flap-leaf running on the side rabbetways Eleaving the leading-roll E free to pass over said rabbet-way and into areceiving-pocket, 0, Figs. 2 and 4, beneath the plane of the rabbet-way.This rabbet-way, traversed by the leading and starting rolls, I preferto make of maple, so as to reduce the noise to a minimum. Thisconstruction gives the easiest possible movement to the doors.

The device for opening and closing the doors consists of primary leversF and G, pivoted above and below the doors in suitable brackets rim H atone corner of the frame, or to a post, I,

and certain secondary levers arranged at one side of the shaftway abovethe doors, having connection therewith and with the said primary levers.The primary levers move in slots in the post I, and are arranged toproject at their inner ends, which carry anti-friction rolls f, withinthe shaftwa-y, to receive the action of the elevator-car, while theirother ends extend outside of said shaftway, and are connected by arod,J, leading from a short lever, K, on the axis-pin of the lower primarylever, G, and joining with the upper primary lever, F, at a pointintermediate between the axis-pin of said lever and its bearing-rollend.

The distance of the connected ends of the rod J from the axis of thelevers is equal, to give equal movement to each lever. The axispin ofthe upper primary lever, F, carries a short lever, L, which connects bymeans of a horizontal rod, M, with one branch, g, of a tri-armed lever,N, pivoted upon a short axispin in a bracket, 0, depending from a sidecross-beam of the frame.

Lifting-rods P I? connect, respectively, with the branches Q Q of thetri-armed lever N, and, extending down, connect with arms R R, Figs. 2and 3, extending inward from the lower corners of the outer door-leaves,O, and thus makethe connection with the folding doors of both sides ofthe shaftway. The counterpoise S S is fixed upon the axis-pin of thetri-armed lever N, so as to describe the arc of a circle in unison withthe opening and closing movements of the door, and to balance all thedoors by positive connections with a single counterpoise. In effectingthis, all the levers describe the arc of ninety degrees, which is alsothe extent of the movement of the counternoise.

The acting element for effecting the proper movements of the doors toallow of the passage of the elevator-car and to close the hatchwayopenings consists of a bearing way arranged upon the side of theeIeVa-torcar, near one corner, in position to act upon the roll ends ofthe primary levers in its ascent and descent. This bearing-way consistsof a vertical plane, T, terminating at each end in a curve, T, whichextends in a horizontal plane, T at the top and bottom of theelevator-car. The horizontal planes T T serve to effect the opening andclosing movements of the doors,

while the vertical plane T serves to hold the doors open and away whilethe elevator is passing through the hatchway; and for this purpose theheight of the elevator and the distance apart of the axis of the primarylevers must be such as to cause the vertical plane to engage the secondlever before it leaves the first in either movement of the elevator, andthus hold the doors away from the elevator-car until both levers leavethe vertical-plane, as shown in Fig. 2.

The end curves T are made the quarter of an ellipse, as shown in Fig. 9,having a greater run on it-svertical side than on the horizontal plane.The efi'ect of this form of curve is to complete the opening of thedoors with a retarded movement, so as to avoid slamming as they riseinto a completely-folded condition, and also to accommodate the slowmovement of the doors when commencing to close, and thereby cause theprimary lever to follow the horizotal bearing-way closely. This bearingof the primary levers upon the horizontal plane serves also to let thedoors down easily and prevents slamming in closing; and in this actionof the primary levers, whether the elevator be moving up or down, theroll end moves both inward and outward over said horizontal plane indescribing the arc of ninety degrees, and in this it conforms to theextent of the opening and closing movements of the doors and in unisontherewith. This, so far as I know, is a new method of opening andclosing hatchway-doors, and in practice gives the best results.

The ends of the primary levers are curved, one downward and the otherupward, for the purpose of allowing them to clear the end curves of thebearing-way while the roll is passing off the horizontal plane, and tomake a more direct impact upon the horizontal planes, as well as to givea more direct bearing upon the vertical plane.

The movements of the doors are regulated to suit a fast or slow movementof the elevator by having the primary levers made longer for afast-moving elevator and of less length for a slow-moving elevator, thusregulating the movements of the doors in opening and closing to anygiven movement or speed of the elevator.

A single countcrpoise, S, made adjustable upon its arm S, serves,bypositive connections with each set of folding doors, to balance them alland assist in their opening movement, and when in a pendent position hasno influence against the weight of the doors in starting to close.

The weight of one of the primary levers balances that of the other bymeans of the de scribed manner in which said levers are connected, sothat no power is required to raise the weight of the lower lever.

The connecting-rod J of the primary levers acts upon the upward movementof the elevator with a pulling force upon the upper primary lever, topull its roll end down in position to receive the action of the verticalplane of the elevator, and to open the doors through the connectionswith the tri-armed lever N while on the downward movement of theelevator this rod J acts with a pushing force to raise the roll end ofthe lower lever 1n position to receive the action of the vertical planeof the elevator as it passes downward, and to open the doors through thesame connections.

It is important, in efi'ectin g the proper movements of the foldingdoors, that the distance from the axis of the hinge of the vouterdoorleaf to the connection of the arm It with the lifting-rod P must beequal to the radii of the lifting-bianchcs Q Q of the tri-armed lever.

The primary levers are arranged so that, when at rest to receive theimpact of the elevator in either its upward or downward movements, theangles of said levers in relation to a horizontal line is less than whentheir ends are nearest each other and one or both are resting againstthe vertical plane of the bearin g-way, so that the acting ends of saidlevers will project in far enough to receive the action of thehorizontal planes.

As a means of safety against accident in the falling of the elevatorfrom any cause, I provide the rod M, which connects the upper primarylever to the tri-armed lever N, with an attachment of sufficientstrength for the proper and safe working of the elevator; but suchconnection will be severed in the event of the sudden falling of theelevator by the concussion thereby produced upon the primary lever, andwill thereby arrest the de scent of the elevator, because the inertia ofthe doors precludes the possibility of their bein g suddenly opened bysuch blow, and therefore the disconnection at the point stated iseffected, and the doors must necessarily remain closed, and receive thefalling elevator. I prefer to have this safety attachment at theconnection of the rod M with the branch 9 of the tri-armed lever; but itmay be made at any point between the connection of the upper primarylever with the doors of each hatchway.

lt is of great importance that the doors should arrive at theirstationary points simultaneously, and to effect this with exactness theseveral connecting-rods have right and left screws upon their ends,adapted to enter screw-thread couplings h, so that by turning any ofsaid rods the proper adjustments are effected, and said rods held tosuch adjustments by lock-nuts i, as shown in Fig. 10'. For example, incase one door should arrive at its vertical position sooner than theother, the rods P P are adjusted by turning them so as to lengthen oneand shorten the other. So, also, as to the primary levers, it isnecessary that they should be adjusted to give equal bearing upon thevertical plane of the bearing-way of the elevator-car, and this isreadily obtained by turning the connectingrod J and then looking it, sothat these levers will always come to the same points at once.

In the operation of the elevator, supposing it to be upon its ascendingmovement and in position between floors, the upper horizontal plane T ofthe bearing-way will come in contact with the roll fof the lower pri mary lever, G, and, raising it in the arc of a circle,.willpartially-revolve its axis-pin, and thereby depress the secondary leverK, fixed to said axis pin, and by the connecting-rod J pull down theupper primary lever, F, and by its partially revolving axis-pin move thesecondary lever L fixed thereon outward, which draws the connecting-rodM with it, and partially rotates the tri-br'anched lever N, which, byits lifting-rods P, causes the doors to open with a folding and variablemovement and assume vertical positions within their respective recessesD in the guideways. This movement is completed just as the roll end ofthe lower primary lever is passing over the upper curved end, T of thebearing-way and upon the vertical planeT of said way. During thisopening movement of the doors the counterpoise S descends from ahorizontal to a pendent position, as in Fig. 2, and in such movement itbalances all the doors and assists in their opening movement. In themeantime the roll end of the upper primary lever, F, has been broughtdown to a position to cause it to pass on to the vertical plane T of thebearing-way, upon which it acts to continue holding the doors openbefore the elevator has left the lower primary lever, as shown in Fig.2. The continued ascent of the elevator will bring the bearing-ro1l ofsaid upper primary lever to the lower curved end, T of the bearing-way,over and beneath which it passes onto the lower horizontal plane, T andmaintains its contact thereon, rising with the elevator to effect theclosing of the doors.

In the closing of the doors their gravity raises the counterpoise fromits pendent position to-a horizontal position. In the descent of theelevator the lower horizontal plane of the bearing-way comes in contactwith the roll end of the upper primary lever, and, depressing it, causesthe several connecting parts to act and the lifting-rods P l to open thedoors the same as in the ascending movement of the elevator, and withthe same results. The depressing of the upper primary lever, as stated,causes the connecting-rod J to be pushed down,

and thereby raises the roll end of the lower primary lever to a positionto receive the action of the vertical plane of the bearing-way, and thecontinued descent of the elevator engages with both levers to hold thedoors open and away, as in the upward movement of the elevator. Theclosing of the doors as the elevator descends is efi'ected by the rollend of the lower primary lever passing over the up,- per curved end ofthe bearing-way, and, restin guponand moving over the horizontal plane,follows the elevator, with the same results as stated on the ascendingmovement of the elevator. In this way the doors of the several floorsare successively opened and closed, without noise and with little force,by the movements of the elevator and the co-operatin g movements of theconnected primary levers through the intervention of a tri-armed lever,combined with and controlling the movements of the counterpoise.

The primary levers may be arranged upon either side of the shaftway, andwhen used with a. corner elevator they are arranged in pr/M1 one of theposts of the frame, but not the guidepost.

In Fig. 1 the dotted arcs show the extent of the movement of the actingends of the primary levers, which gives a free and easy movement of thelevers upon the elevator, as contradistinguished from any cam-levermovement. The door-flaps are provided with notches, to allowtheelevator-cable to pass between them when closed.

It will be noticed that one of said horizontal planes act first upon oneof said primary levers to open the doors, while the action of both ofsaid levers upon the vertical plane holds the doors open, with the endsof said levers at the limit of their movement toward each other.

The state of the art shows selfclosin g hatchways for elevators openedand closed in various ways to allow the passage of the elevator, and inwhich the doors are both opened and closed by the direct contacttherewith of the elevator-car, and also without the direct contact ofthe elevator-car with said doors, by means of levers operated by cams,so that whatever force is required to raise the doors'is transferredlaterally to the car, and thence to its guideways, increasing thefriction and binding action of the car upon its guides in passing thehatchway. My invention, however, is distinguished from these things inthe important particular of effecting the opening and closing of thedoors by the action of levers adapted to exert their force upon theelevator-car in the direction of its vertical movement, and thus avoidall lateral pressure in effecting the opening and closing movements ofthe doors.

I claim- 1. The combination ,with elevator-hatchway doors of two leaves,hinged as described, adapted to fold open into a vertical position andto close free of contact with the elevatorcar, of. one or more leadingrolls or runners, arranged on the flap-leaf in advance of its closingedge, to start and lead out the flap-leaf in the closing movement of thedoors.

2. In self-closing hatchway doors of two leaves, hinged as described,the flap-leaf, having one or more leading rolls or runners, E, incombination with flap-supporting rolls (1, said leading-rolls beingadapted to pass out of the way idly when the fiap-supportin g rollbecomes active.

3. In self-closing hatchway-doors, a leading roll or runner, combinedwith the flap-leaf of a door of two hinged leaves, for the purposestated, by a pivoted carrying-arm, whereby to adapt said leading-roll topass out of the way into pockets as the doors close.

4. A hatchway-door for elevators made in two sections of two hingedleaves each, adapted to close by their gravity, opened with variablemovements, and balanced by a single forth.

5. The combination, with hinged doors, of two folding leaves each, of anelevator-hatchway, and the lifting-rods connected to the inner sides ofthe outer leaves, substantially as described, ot a single counterpoiseupon the axis-pin of the lifting-lever connections, operating to balanceall the doors in opening by positive connections, substantially asherein set forth.

6. In self-closing doors for elevator-hatchways, the means hereindescribed for opening the doors with a variable movement to preventslamming, consisting of the curves T joining the horizontal and verticalplanes of the elevator bearing-way, said curves operating by theirshortest curvature to slow the doors as they fold into the guide-postrecesses.

7. The curves T T of the elevator bearingway, adapted to graduallytransfer the primary lever from the vertical plane T to the horizontalplane T to secure the slow commencement of the closing movement of thedoors.

8. In self-closing doors for elevator-hatchways, a bearing-way upon theelevator-car, consisting of a vertical plane, T, horizontal planes T T,overlying the top and bottom of the elevator-car, and intermediatecurves '1 T joining said planes at the angles of the elevator-ca, incombination with primary levers adapted to receive the impact of theelevator-car upon said horizontal planes, and to move in a long sweep incontact therewith, to both open and close the doors.

9. The primary levers F G, arranged above and below the hatchway,connected by suitable mechanism, to operate toward and from each otherin opposite directions, and 0011- nected to the inner sides of the outerdoors, substantially as described, in combination with an elevator-carbearing-way having horizontal and vertical planes joined by intermediatecurves, adapted to operate said levers simultaneously to efl'ect theopening and closing movements of the doors, substantially as described.

10. The combination ,with the primary levers, arrangedto operate,substantially as described, of the secondary tri-armed lever N,connected by the rod M, the lifting-rods P P, and the elevator-motorfrom lifting the lower primary the inward-projecting end of the upperprilever in the oper tion of opening the doors by mary lever, F, toprevent the opening of the the descent of the elevator. doors.

12. As a means of preventing the accidental In testimony that I claimthe foregoing I passage of the elevator-ear through the hatchhaveaffixed my signature in the presence of Way, the rod M, having one ofits points of two Witnesses.

connection Weaker than the other, but suffi- JOHN M. VAN OSDEL. cientlystrong for the safe working of the ele- Witnesses: vator, whereby saidWeak point will give Way A. E. H. JOHNSON, 1

upon a sudden descent of the elevator-car upon J. W. HAMILTON J onNsoN.

